Unlock the publisher’s digest free
Roula Khalaf, editor -in -chief of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
British transport secretary Heidi Alexander pointed out that she would approve a second track to Gatwick if the airport brings two modifications to her plans, while the government is betting on the major expansion of London airports to stimulate economic growth.
Alexander said it was concern to approve the plans if the airport accepted stronger objectives for access to public transport at the airport and quickly implement a noise mitigation system.
A planning inspection report on Thursday recommended the refusal of Gatwick’s initial request, but unusual said that it would approve the request if the two changes were made.
Alexander Thursday gave Gatwick a deadline of April 24. Gatwick did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the changes proposed by the government to the construction plan of 2.2 billion pounds Sterling.
The project would considerably increase the capacity by moving the emergency landing track in the second most common airport in Great Britain 12 meters north. The relocation would put enough space between the band and the existing track so that the two can operate at the same time.
The project could see planes take off from the second track by the end of the current parliament in 2029.
Gatwick, about 30 miles south of the center of London, said that this second full -time track would allow it to manage up to 75 million passengers per year in the late 2030s, against the record of 46.5 million travelers who used the airport in 2019.
The planning inspection demanded that Gatwick adopt a legally binding objective of at least 54% of passengers arriving per year at the airport by public transport.
Gatwick previously argued that he did not want the target to be legally restrictive. The two parties will now seek a compromise which could stop in step of a legally binding target at this level.
The planning inspection also asked Gatwick to modify its original plan for an attenuation plan of noise which would be delivered in progressive phases. Managers expect the airport to accept faster delivery to meet this request.
The airport has presented its plan as a relatively incontestable means and at low risk of adding a new track to the capacity of the airport in London, because most of the work would take place within its existing limits.
But local activists said they would contest any decision in favor of a new track in Gatwick before the courts, increasing the prospect of a judicial examination of Alexander’s decision.
Last month, Rachel Reeves said flights could take off from a third track from New Heathrow “in a decade” when she supported the long -delayed and politically controversial project.
The chancellor said in a speech that Heathrow’s expansion “would unlock additional growth, would increase investments, increase exports and make Britain more open and more connected”.
The management of the British Hub airport alone has committed to present detailed proposals for the project for a long time this summer.
But some labor deputies remain skeptical about the probability of a third track, with a building permit, it is unlikely that it will be granted until the end of the current parliament in 2029.
Alexander is expected to govern an expansion plan at Luton airport, north of London, in the coming weeks.
Whitehall officials said that she wanted to approve the expansion of Luton – which does not include a new track, but would imply the construction of new infrastructures and terminal capacity and traffic lanes – as long as the concerns of noise on the hills of Chiltern can be addressed.
Stansted and City airports in London have had their own approved expansion plans.
Overall, widened airports could manage 309 million passengers per year – an increase of 85% compared to the 167 million which used them in 2023, the most recent year for which complete data is available, according to a financial time analysis.
Reeves last month said that the airport expansion was compatible with the government’s net Zero 2050 objective of the government of the government, pointing towards “a cleaner and green flight” through affordable aviation fuels.
But the climatic groups argued that such an increase in the number of passengers will be incompatible with the target of 2050, given the difficulty of decarbonizing aviation.
